1. Field of Use
The present invention relates to Internet-accessible applications and more particularly to a method for reducing or eliminating message translation and traffic through intermediate applications and systems in an internet application.
2. Prior Art
With the increasing popularity of internet web browsers, there is an increasing need to allow those browsing applications to access the applications in enterprise systems, in particular transaction processing (TP) and other applications on middle-range or enterprise mainframe systems. The problem is that the applications programs in most TP systems are expecting messages that look as if they were generated by a terminal such as an International Business Machines (IBM) 3270 terminal. These terminals can display information organized in both non-modifiable output-only static fields and user/application-specific modifiable input/output variable fields on the screen. The static fields typically provide documentary or prompt information while the variable fields provide data entry and data output specific to a particular application dialog interface. The template that controls that screen layout organization is often called a form, a map, or a screen image. Screen images are downloaded into the terminal over normal communications through an ordered data stream when required. The end user enters data into the variable fields of the screen image. Only the modified variable-field data is transmitted to the application. There is varied and extensive practice in the specification, generation, and transmission of screen images. To avoid changing the current screen images and applications on the middle-range or enterprise system, the PC desktop platforms masquerade as a traditional terminal when talking to those applications. On personal computers this normally has been done by terminal emulation software that can generate messages that are identical to those generated by a real terminal (e.g. the PC application exchanges messages encoded in 3270 presentation format).
For the emerging web browser and server environment, this is currently done by having the browser software send a message to a web server. Web server extensions (enabled by standard web server programmatic interfaces) are provided by companies that translate the message to a format identical to the format that would be generated by a 3270 terminal, and passes it on to an application residing in the same system. The receiving application may process the message or it may pass the message on to a mainframe TP to be processed there.
Although this broadens the type of end systems with which the application can communicate, it may not offer acceptable performance, throughput and response time in a high volume transaction environment. Each message is translated in the web server extension and possibly in the intermediate application. In addition, the message is forced to be routed through several applications and an intermediate system. If the application in the intermediate system (e.g. the UniKix product offered by UniKix Technologies) does not provide services like providing a platform for rehosting legacy TP applications or providing an integrating view of several TP applications or systems, it is merely acting as a costly message router.